Some Thoughts on Playing Shots Out of Divots

To help in playing shots out of divots, please review the techniques below.

Hybrid clubs can work, and that is certainly a viable option. Of course, there are other options. You may want to play a lofted iron when just moving the ball down the fairway and toward the green, or when only a short shot is necessary to reach the target. The benefit of using something like a wedge is the relatively sharp leading edge which can cut through the turf effectively. You may be able to make better contact with a wedge than anything else in some situations, especially when the divot is rather deep.

Beware of injury. Trying to dig the ball out of a deep divot can mean trouble for your hands and wrists. If you swing down too hard, and too steeply, the impact of your club hitting the ground may be so jarring that it causes an injury somewhere in your body. Be careful, and err on the side of caution when deciding what kind of shot to hit. Sure, you would like to save a stroke, but it isn’t worth injuring yourself in the process. Wrist injuries for golfers can be particularly troublesome, often taking a long period of time to recover sufficiently for golf activities to begin again.

Avoid worn out landing areas. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do about your ball winding up in a divot. You hit a beautiful drive, it bounces and rolls down the fairway, and just so happens to come to rest in a divot hole. That’s pure bad luck, and it is part of the game. In other cases, however, you might have been able to do something to improve your odds of staying away from a divot hole. Specifically, you can try to avoid commonly-used landing areas on short par fours. Some par fours, due to their design, tend to see a large number of tee shots pile up in the same section of the fairway. When that happens, the fairway becomes worn out in that area, and there are countless divot holes to avoid. If possible, consider adjusting your strategy for the hole slightly in order to stay away from the part of the fairway that has suffered the most damage.

Hopefully, you won’t have to use the advice provided in this article very often. Ideally, your ball will stay comfortably away from divots, and you will be able to play most of your shots from nice lies. With that said, it is good to know that turning to your hybrid club when you need to play from a divot is a viable option. Given the right lie, and the right terrain in front of you, putting your hybrid to use in this spot may lead to a positive outcome. Good luck!